Your Campus Decompression Zone

Before the music starts in the evening, the Cactus is a great place to meet friends for conversation and relaxation.

Location

The Cactus Cafe & Bar is on Guadalupe Street across from the University Co-op and is located in the southwest corner of the Texas Union building. The Texas Union, at the corner of 24th and Guadalupe, is on the University of Texas campus.  Entrance to the Cactus is through the main West Mall Lobby.

Singer/songwriter, folk & other mostly acoustic acts, since 1979.

Cactus Café & Bar - The Music Venue

The Cactus Cafe & Bar is one of Austin's great acoustic music traditions. The Cactus is an intimate live music performance venue, and since the Cafe opened in February 1979, the Cactus has acquired a national reputation, showcasing the top local, regional, national and international acoustic music acts on the circuit today. Billboard magazine has listed the Cactus as one of fifteen "solidly respected, savvy clubs" nationwide "from which careers can be cut, that work with proven names and new faces."

Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams, Shawn Colvin, Nanci Griffith and Ani DiFranco are among the singer-songwriters who frequently graced the Cactus stage early in their careers. Over the last twenty-five years many well-known artists performed at the Cactus Cafe, many to return time and time again. Cactus stage. Among them: Alison Krauss, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Townes Van Zandt, Loudon Wainwright III, Bill Monroe, Richard Thompson, Guy Clark, the Dixie Chicks, John Hiatt, Iris Dement, Ralph Stanley, Suzanne Vega, Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin and the list goes on...

The Cactus is a non-smoking venue and has a full bar.

Location

The Cactus Cafe & Bar is on Guadalupe Street across from the University Co-op and is located in the southwest corner of the Texas Union building. The Texas Union, at the corner of 24th and Guadalupe, is on the University of Texas campus. Entrance to the Cactus is through the main West Mall Lobby.

Please email the Cactus Cafe ( cactuscafe@utexas.edu ) with any questions.

Upcoming Events

Open Mic
Event Status
Scheduled
Tuesday June 13, 2023, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Recurs: Weekly on Tuesday at 7:00pm until Tue, Jun 27 2023
Cactus Cafe
Admission is free! Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins at 7:30 p.m. Join us every Tuesday to hear all original music (no covers allowed!) from talented local artists on the famed Cactus stage.
Michael Malone
Event Status
Scheduled
Wednesday June 14, 2023, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Cactus Cafe
Admission is free! Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins at 7:30 p.m. Join us for an evening of jazz with world-renowned saxophonist and composer Michael Malone.
Open Mic
Event Status
Scheduled
Tuesday June 20, 2023, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Recurs: Weekly on Tuesday at 7:00pm until Tue, Jun 27 2023
Cactus Cafe
Admission is free! Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins at 7:30 p.m. Join us every Tuesday to hear all original music (no covers allowed!) from talented local artists on the famed Cactus stage.
Open Mic
Event Status
Scheduled
Tuesday June 27, 2023, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Recurs: Weekly on Tuesday at 7:00pm until Tue, Jun 27 2023
Cactus Cafe
Admission is free! Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins at 7:30 p.m. Join us every Tuesday to hear all original music (no covers allowed!) from talented local artists on the famed Cactus stage.
Jensen Buck
Event Status
Scheduled
Thursday June 29, 2023, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Cactus Cafe
Admission is free! Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins at 7:30 p.m. Jensen Buck is a singer-songwriter who’s been singing and entertaining audiences his entire life. His unique combination of country, alt-country and reggae create a genre of its own.